Feeling Man--Are You Feeling It?

This one hasn't been discussed for a while, and as I wore it as my scent of the day, I thought it'd be fun to open it up for discussion.

A little background, particularly for the newbs. Feeling Man, by Jil Sander, a German designer, released this scent in the late 80s. It is the prototype of the &quot;legendary&quot; fragrances, fragrances that have been long discontinued and then achieved cult/legendary status.

The making of a legend goes something like this. A house releases a fragrance that is met with a collective yawn by the general public. Yet a dedicated group of fragrance afficiados, who know a great scent when they smell one, (like us!), recognized it as a scent superior to the mass marketed drek and flipped over it. Due to poor sales, it was yanked, but the legend grew. That's how bottles like this one end up on ebay for $300., such as the current situation for the unspeakable Red by Giorgio. When people exclaim, &quot;How could they have discontinued (fill in the blank)?&quot;, Feeling Man is generally the number one mentioned.

My personal feeling as to why this one tanked sales-wise is that it had the bad luck to be released one year after Cool Water, which, with the equally unspeakable Issey Miyake, practically invented the &quot;fresh/acquatic/marine&quot; craze that pollutes the department store fragrance offerings to this day. Feeling Man is anything BUT one of those scents. It also had the balls not to be a generic fragrance that was created to appeal to as many people as possible. Presumably.

When I first joined Basenotes and started collecting in earnest, (funny how they happened at the same time!), this was one of the first hard to find, discontinued scents I made a mission to track down. I bought a full, new bottle from another B'notes member, (naturally) from overseas, for a pretty penny. My first reaction to it was not that hot. I started a thread a few months ago entitled &quot;Scents You Wanted to Love, but...&quot; and, whatever I used as an example in that thread, Feeling Man is really Exhibit A.

My first reaction was not good, but I attributed it to notion that perhaps my nose was not sophisicated enough to appreciate such a complex scent. I mean, after all, check out the reviews in the Directory. Of all of the Holy Grail discontinued scents, this one reigns supreme.

I've had my bottle for two years and have worn it all of once. Today, on a whim, I tried it again, and it pains me to admit that I just...don't...get it. The two words I think of are THICK and DENSE. Suffocating comes to mind also. Not thick and dense like some classic Guerlains or Patou PH which I love, but more like an unpleasant, weird, tenacious combination of notes that I just could not wait to sandblast off of me.

To its credit it has two characteristics that I look for in a fragrance--uniqueness and longetivity, and this one has both in spades. I applied two modest blasts at 7:00am this morning. It lasted 10 hours during the working day, a work out, a sauna, a shower, another sauna and then another shower. I could still smell it. Uniqueness wise, I can't even think of anything it smells like. Unfortunately, it lacks the most important characteristic I look for in a scent--it has to smell good!

By the by, the also discontinued Background by Jil Sander is, in my opinion, a far superior scent.

So that's my experience with this legendary scent. What's yours? And yes, my full 3.4 oz full bottle is up for swap.

Re: Feeling Man--Are You Feeling It?

Perhaps you should vary your method of application. 2 tries hardly constitutes a thorough testing of a scent to capture subtle nuances. There are many ways you can vary your MOA, but seeing as to how you are overwhelmed with a mere 2 spritz suggests you have hit them on the necking zone. Try the walkthrough on the chest, a single spritz before putting on your shirt. Feeling Man is designed with sillage in mind and it is one of the precursors to the gourmand-type scents along with Obsession so they do overload on the vanille note a bit. Better for fall and winter i bet.

Re: Feeling Man--Are You Feeling It?

It's always interesting to look at these things from a historical perspective. In 1989, the year in which the Berlin Wall came down, 'thick and dense' was a fashion statement, if not avantgarde.

At that time, no men's fragrance (Joop aside) was as lustfully and explicitly tobacco-flowery sweet as Feeling Man. It certainly was the first pink men's fragrance - yes, pink, although the colour tends to fade into a bluish grey.

Backroom 'the best Jil Sander release by far'? Griff, your otherwise impeccable taste must momentarily have left you. Jil Sander Man Pure (1981) is the most beautiful fragrance that was ever created.

Re: Feeling Man--Are You Feeling It?

Although I agree with you guys regarding Background, I think it is important to note that Feeling Man seems to lose its original chemistry over time more so than most other fragrances. This may account for your change of heart, Dave!

Re: Feeling Man--Are You Feeling It?

I still feel that this is one of the best all around scents that I have smelled. Time has probably not been nice to the juice that's still around.....I still have a couple of 1.7's that I guard with care.
I do also agree that background is a fantastic scent...and yes I have 1 of those also.
Would I pay big $$$$$$$$'s for a bottle of Feeling Man?..........No........Cult Status?
Yes!!!! Yes Indeed!!!! IMO that is..........
Gary

Re: Feeling Man--Are You Feeling It?

I must beg your pardon. The point is debatable, but my taste is certainly not &quot;impeccable&quot;-- &quot;catholic&quot; or &quot;indiscriminate&quot; or even &quot;promiscuous&quot; perhaps... but surely not &quot;impeccable!&quot; 8-)